The Flock Goes to JBA
by clr8675309
Summary: The overall concept is kinda weird, but it's a good story, with tons of FAX! So what are you waiting for? Come on! READ IT! .......you know you want to.....
1. Chapter 1

**NOTE: This fanfic is being written as if the 5th book never existed. Fair warning to all you Fax lovers out there.**

Chapter 1

"Where to next, chief?" Fang asked as he glided up beside me. I swerved to get closer.

"My mom said she had some 'special assignment' for us," I said, using air quotes. We all know how well the last 'special assignment' went, with Dr. Amazing and her Wonderful Band of Tree Huggers, that almost got us killed. Again. "Thought we'd check it out."

Fang nodded. "Any idea what it could be?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

I let out a deep breath. "Not a clue," I replied, staring straight ahead.

"Ok, gonna go tell the others." He slowed his pace and motioned for Nudge to catch up.

Now, normally I'm not the kind of girl who comes running when someone calls-I give orders, I don't follow them-but this was different. This wasn't some Itex lab-rat maze, this was something that my mom suggested. Did you catch that? My _mom._ I didn't even think my mom existed for fourteen years let alone that she was Dr. Martinez, the woman who stood up to Erasers in my defense. I couldn't have picked a better mom.

I felt a tiny, tingling sensation running up the back of my neck. _Max, when are we going to be there? _Angel.

_Pretty soon, sweetie, I promise._

It had been four months since our adventure in Antarctica and the flock and I had been trying to lay low for a while. Call me crazy but when you're used to people trying to kill you every which way you turn, you tend to not like it when random people attack you on the streets asking for pictures. I know, strange isn't it?

Anyway, we were flying high over the Rocky Mountains, about to cross the Wyoming/Colorado border. The closer we got the more excited I was getting. Being able to come _home_ and see my _mom_? Two words I never thought I'd say. Besides, I hadn't seen her in a while and I couldn't wait to walk in the door of that house hidden in the forest and give her a big hug, inhaling the scent of chocolate chip cookies slowly baking in the oven. It was enough to make my mouth water.

_You think she's baking cookies? _Angel thought at me. That's right, my little mind reader.

_I bet she is. _I answered.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When we arrived at Dr. Martinez's house, it was nearly sunset. I motioned the rest of the flock to land and instructed Iggy on the angle. Through the windows, I could see my mom standing in the warm glow of the kitchen. She bent over and pulled something out of the oven. As she stood up, with a tray full of cookies, she looked out the window and saw me and the flock. She carefully set the cookies on the counter to cool and ran out to see me and the flock.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, like you see on movies or on that T.V. show, Baywatch. Before I knew it, my mom had her arms around me and the rest of the flock had gathered around into sort of an awkward group hug. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ella run out the front door trying to put on her jacket as she ran. She eventually gave up and threw it on the ground.

Dr. Martinez let go in time for Ella to crash into me, making me lose my balance for a split second before I regained it.

"Max! Max! I missed you so much!" she wailed into my sleeve. "I have so much to tell you! I--" She looked at Dr. Martinez, who was studying her with interest. "I'll tell you later. Come on, I'll show you to your rooms."

Ella grabbed my hand and yanked my wrist as she pulled me to the front door. I reached out and grabbed Iggy's hand, motioning for the rest of the flock to come, as I stumbled along after Ella.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After the flock and I were assigned to our rooms, I began unpacking-as if I had anything to unpack, maybe a cotton t-shirt and a pair of old jeans, but that was about it. Grabbing a pillow, I flopped down on the bed and took in a deep breath, a mix of emotions coming to me at once. There was joy over seeing my mom and my half-sister, Ella, comfort knowing that my flock would be somewhat safer for the next few days, but there was also worry. What was this mission and what makes it so dangerous? Is it even dangerous at all, or are we just doing 'research,' like on the _Wendy K?_ And is there something they're not telling us? I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath, trying to keep my head and my sanity, or what little of it I have left. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," I said, without opening my eyes.

"Yo," said a familiar voice. "Time for dinner."

I sat up. "K," I replied quietly, already knowing that this wasn't the end of our conversation.

Reading my mind (not _literally _of course, Angel has that covered.), Fang closed the door behind him. "What's up?"

"I'm fine," I answered. "Just thinking about the new mission, that's all."

Fang nodded, understanding exactly what I meant. He sat down on the bed next to me and grabbed my right shoulder, pulling me closer to him. "Whatever it is we can handle it," he said, rubbing my shoulder. "We always do."

I nodded into his chest, laughing to myself. I must've said those ten words to myself thousands of times but it only made sense coming from him.

"I know," I finally said after a long pause. I took his hand off my shoulder and started to get up. "But right now, let's focus on the positives. We're not on a cave floor, we're not eating desert rat tonight, and--." I stopped myself before I could say it.

"And what?" Fang asked standing up.

_Come on, Max, think. _"And, my mom made cookies," I said lamely. "So, let's go with that and take the good with the bad," I added. Lately, I've been sounding like a fortune cookie on steroids. Gee, do you think anyone's noticed?

"Max, dinner's waiting," my mom called from the kitchen.

"I'm coming," I answered. I looked at Fang, who was in between me and the door. "You ready to go?" I asked, wondering if I was going to get a straight answer.

"Yeah," he said, surprising me. "Ready when you are." He stepped out of the way and made a gesture to the door.

When we got downstairs, everyone was sitting at the table. Considering I was used to tossing the ketchup over an open fire, saying this was a step up for me would be an understatement. I walked to the table and took a seat. Fang sat next to me.

Ella, Angel, and Nudge were sitting next to each other, giggling about something I couldn't understand, while Total sat on Angel's lap, waiting for Dr. Martinez to come back with a booster seat. Gazzy and Iggy were sitting at the end of the table and Gazzy was whispering something into his ear. I rolled my eyes and prayed to God they weren't figuring out how to turn potato casserole into a bomb. Fang and I were across from the girls (who were now so hysterical I thought I would have to spray them with water to get them to calm down) and Dr. Martinez had set herself a plate at the other end of the table. That's when I noticed it. I counted again just to be sure. 10. She set ten plates. Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, Total, Me, Fang, Ella, and Dr. Martinez made nine. I looked at Fang and realized he'd noticed it to.

Jeb was coming for dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Flock Goes to JBA

Fang and I exchanged glances as the doorbell rang.

Dr. Martinez was in the kitchen. She grabbed a towel and wiped her hands off as she began waling to the door, still wearing her kitchen apron. The doorbell rang again.

"I'm coming!," Dr. Martinez said, increasing her pace. "Just be patient," she muttered under her breath as she hung her apron on the hook behind the kitchen door. The bell rang a third time as the oven timer went off.

"Ugh," Dr. Martinez said in frustration. "Max, will you get that, I have to take the chicken out of the oven."

"Ok," I said reluctantly. I looked at Fang. He gave me a barely perceptible nod, reassuring me that I would be fine.

Wait, since when did I have to ask? Hadn't I always been fine; hadn't I always been able to rely on myself? Why did I need to have Fang's reassurance, and for something as stupid as answering the door? I've knocked out Erasers, dumped oil on that waiter's head, and jumped out of 25 story windows without even a second thought. Why would I have to turn to Fang to make sure I was alright?

I pushed the thoughts out of my head and took a deep breath as I walked to the door. It rang a fourth time and I was almost ready to punch his lights out, God he was impatient. I opened the door and Jeb was standing there. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and smiled.

"Hi, Max," he said.

_Oh, that's why. _I thought as I stared dumbfounded at Jeb. Had I known he was coming? Yes. Did that really make that much of a difference. Not really.

"Max?" he said, noting that I was staring off into space. "May I come in?"

My gut was telling me to say no, but I couldn't. My mom had invited him, so it must be important. "Sure," I said. I opened the door and started walking away.

What? I said I'd let him in; I didn't say I'd be nice to him.

Jeb and I have an interesting relationship. About five years ago, he had kidnapped us from the School, where they did horrible experiments on us (Hint: why we have wings). Back then, he was like our savior, our protector. For two years he looked after us, almost like a dad. Then, he vanished. We all knew he was dead and we'd accepted it. I took on the role of leader and watched after my flock, tackling every scrape, every need, any thing to protect my family. About a year ago, the flock and I went to pick strawberries and Angel was kidnapped. That was when we found out that Jeb was alive. He was a whitecoat, a traitor. He didn't die trying to protect us, in fact he became the very thing that was trying to kill us, again. Since I learned of my world-saving mission, he's been trying to help the flock, but I still don't trust him. I don't think I ever will and honestly, I don't really care. My mom trusted him, and I trusted her, but that is about as far as it will ever go.

I walked back to the table and sat down next to Fang, letting out a deep breath as I tried to contemplate what was going on in my mind.

"You okay?" Fang asked only loud enough for me to hear. I nodded, not sure if I really believed it or not. He nudged my knee with his under the table and, somehow, that made me feel loads better.

"Hey, Jeb," my mom said as she walked into the dining room, carrying the chicken. "Long time, no see." She placed it on the table.

The flock was practically drooling, and with good reason. We had been flying for hours and we have pretty fast metabolisms. We don't get to eat very often and when we do, it's usually dumpster diving for a protein bar or something. So, putting a big plate of baked chicken in front of us was pure torture. I motioned the rest of the flock to wait until everything was on the table.

Dr. Martinez brought in plate after plate of food and finally, it was time to eat. I motioned the rest of the flock that it was ok and they fell on their food like starving hyenas. Well, we _were _starving hyenas. Dr. Martinez burst out laughing.

"I almost forgot how much food you all could eat," she said between chuckles.

"So, Max, how have you been?" Jeb asked, hoping for an answer.

Yeah, like he was going to get one. "Fine," I replied. I knew he wasn't done trying.

"Has anyone been bothering you lately?" he asked.

"Nope." It was a total lie. Anytime we went out in public, someone ran up and took pictures or hug-attacked us or something. Luckily, we had perfected the art of disguise.

"Good," Jeb said. "Angel, has your arm--"

"We're _fine_," I interrupted. I turned to Fang. "Could you pass the salt?"

Fang nodded as he reached across the table for the salt, in front of Jeb's plate, taking the time to stare Jeb dead in the eyes. A subtle warning that made your blood run cold.

Jeb ignored it. "Max, I think it's time to discuss your next step," he said, casually taking a bite of chicken.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update, I've been uber busy. Anway, I thought I'd kick off the new month with a new chapter of The Flock Goes to JBA. Enjoy! 3**

The flock stayed silent. They knew not to get in the middle of something like this.

"Oh, you think?" I said, slamming my fork down on my plate. Since when did he get to make the decisions? "Well, gosh, if you think it's time then I guess it's time," I added, sarcasm dripping like venom.

"Max," my mom said and I remembered that she wouldn't agree with anything she didn't think was safe. I picked up my fork and settled down.

Jeb began again.

"We've found a huge source of radiation coming from the Midwest, in Northern Missouri." He paused, waiting for me to interrupt. It took all the strength I had, but I didn't. "We need you to check it out."

I looked at my mom. She nodded, letting me know she has already checked it out herself. "What would we have to do?" I asked, still not sure if I wanted to or not.

"We've pinpointed the source of the pollution to Truman State University, in Kirksville, Missouri," he said. "We need you to find out what's causing it."

I put down my fork again and sat back in my chair. "How do you suppose we go about doing this?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Jeb was about to say something but Dr. Martinez intervened. "You and the flock would be stationed at Truman State University, undercover as students--"

The flock and I burst out laughing. Even Fang couldn't control himself. "Students?!" I said in between giggles. "How could we pull off being college students?"

Iggy chimed in. "Yeah, Angel could join a sorority and Total could be the guard dog!"

This brought on a whole new wave of laughter. Even Jeb, was suppressing a chuckle.

"Guys, guys," Dr. Martinez said, trying to get us under control, or as under control as seven bird kids and a flying talking dog who've been on their own for most of their life could be. "Let me finish."

I quit giggling and motioned for the rest of the flock to stop.

"You would be going undercover as students," she paused, waiting for us to crack up again, "at the annual summer program Truman hosts each year."

I frowned. "We're going to _camp?_" I asked.

Dr. Martinez quickly recovered. "No, it's not a camp, it's, it's--"

"It's a summer enrichment program," Jeb interrupted. "Each year, approximately 200 students, grades seven through nine, pay $1200 to attend a college-like summer program known as JBA.--"

"What's JBA?" Angel asked in that innocent, curious voice of hers.

"I was getting to that," Jeb said, starting to get annoyed. I almost smiled. It did my heart good to know that, after all this time, we could still get to him. "JBA stands for the Joseph Baldwin Academy for Eminent Young Scholars--"

That did it. "Eminent Young Scholars?!" I cracked. I was practically clutching my stomach in pain from laughing so much. I could tell the rest of the flock was trying to suppress their chortles. "College is one thing, we have to be smart too?" It's no secret that we haven't had much schooling, except for those couple of months in Virginia.

Nudge piped in, looking thoughtful. "Wait. Joseph Baldwin Academy for Eminent Young Scholars? Wouldn't that be JBAEYS?" I smirked.

"Max," my mom said again, this time with a more stern voice. I settled down, knowing that I needed to take this seriously. Didn't necessarily mean I was going to.

"Mom," I said, putting on my best innocent voice, "we've tried school before, didn't work out so well, what makes you think this will be any better?"

"Because this time you will be protected," she answered.

"And that makes a difference, how?"

Jeb chimed in. "You will be staying in a college dorm with the other students attending JBA. Two armed guards will be positioned at each exit at night and you will be monitored during the day." He paused, waiting to see if I had anything to say. "You'd be completely safe."

I laughed. Okay, that officially did it. "Really, _safe? _You're bribing us with _safety?" _This whole thing had to be a joke. College? Summer camp? Completely safe? "Yeah, we tried that before. Remember? We were _safe_ in Antarctica, where we were nearly attacked by a leopard seal, fell through an ice shelf, and let's not forget kidnapped and sent through a hurricane."

"Max--," Jeb began but I stopped him.

"No, don't tell me we'll be _safe_," I spat. "We're never _safe_ and that isn't about to change now." I was furious. Was he seriously trying to convince us that the government was going to _protect _us. Since when? Where was the government when they were playing with DNA and torturing six innocent bird kids? I didn't trust them then and I'm not about to start trusting them now.

"But, Max--," Jeb tried to begin again but I wasn't having any of it.

"The answer is no," I said defiantly, getting up from the table. I picked up my plate and walked to the sink.

"Max, will you at least think about it?" Dr. Martinez called after me, knowing that, if she told me outright to do something, I'd never take the bait. It sometimes scared me how well she knew me, how she was able to manipulate me like that. After putting my plate in the sink, like the good little bird kid I am, I turned around and looked at Fang, Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected himself, then at the rest of the flock, who seemed interested in what this whole thing was. _Why do they always have to take the bait?_

"Maybe," I said flatly, and with that, went to my room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in forever, been pretty busy, but I had this written so I decided to post it tonight! YAY!! Any way, I would like to point out to everyone that, anything I say about Truman State University, Kirksville, or Missouri in general about having a pollution or radiation problem or something, none of that is true. At all. There is not a source of radiation coming from Truman State University. The only thing true that I may say about Truman, Kirksville, or JBA is that it is freaking amazing. Any way, enjoy this next chapter! And please comment!!!**

Chapter 6

I groaned as I rolled over in bed the next morning. The previous night had been an absolute nightmare. Who did Jeb think he was? Trying to decide the next step for the flock. That's my job--has been since he 'died' almost three years ago.

"Ugh," I grunted as I weakly propped my self up on one arm. Wiping the crust out of my eyes, I swung my legs off the bed and pulled on the pair of sweat pants Ella let me borrow. Hey, what are sisters for?

I unfurled my wings a bit and stretched, ready to get this day over with. I already knew how it was going to go: My mom would ask what I thought about the JBA mission, I would say no, Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy would want to check it out, I would have to be the reasonable one and say no--you get the pattern here.

I opened the window and ducked out onto the roof, enjoying for a split-second the quiet serenity of the surrounding forest. I just needed to sit and think for a while, not sure if right outside the house where a freaking mind reader is sleeping is the best place to go for that, but it'll have to do.

I walked to the edge of the roof and sat down, unfurling my wings completely and feeling the gentle morning breeze flow through my feathers. I closed my eyes and tried to gather my thoughts.

Last night, like I said, had been an absolute nightmare. For one, there was Jeb, who had suddenly decided that he could tell us what to do and that we would be perfectly fine with it. Then there was my mom, who hadn't even told me he was coming--then again, I probably should have anticipated it. Oh, and there was this whole aspect of a new mission where we would be 'protected by the government.' And then of course there was Fang…

My mind trailed off. I won't go there. I shouldn't go there. But I will.

Fang was my best friend, my right-wing man, the one person who I could honestly say knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. We grew up together. He was the only one I could open up to, and, when we were alone, he was the only one I trusted enough to show that I _wasn't_ fine. The rest of the flock can't know that. I have to be there for them, to protect them, they can't know that their solid-as-steel leader isn't okay, isn't 100% sure of what she's doing. And when it came down to it, Fang was always there for me, no matter what was going on.

Lately things between me and Fang have changed, a lot. Everything's just more complicated than it used to be. He kissed the Red-Headed Wonder, I kissed Sam. He kissed me and I ran away. He kissed me again, and I ran away. It bothered me when he was making out with Lissa (Red-Headed Wonder) and it bothered him when I was with Sam, but why? Why did it matter to either of us? Nothing make sense anymore, nothing.

I'm brought out of my trance by the sound of a latch, well, _unlatching_ I guess. I don't know, God knows I don't have the best vocabulary out there.

As if on cue, Fang crawls out of his window and starts walking towards me, handy-dandy laptop in tow. I fold my wings back in as he continues walking.

"Yo," Fang said, sitting next to me and plopping the computer into my lap. "I looked up this JBA thing." The screen was open to the JBA website. It had pictures, statistics, quotes--I was surprised by how much these kids loved to go to school during the freakin summer. I mean, I know I'm out of the normal world loop, but doesn't that defy the laws of nature or something? "I think we should check it out," he added.

I looked at him, almost surprised. When had he gotten this information and what makes him think any of it is real? What if it's just another stupid test? _Can they find the right information? Let's find out…_ Chances are, he didn't just happen to wake up at the same time as me and randomly decide to look it up--he'd been sitting on this all night and he didn't tell me. I felt, I don't know, I don't know what I felt.

I closed the computer and handed it back to Fang. "No," I said as I began standing up. I tried to walk away but Fang stood up quickly and grabbed my arm.

"Max, wait," he said. I turned around and pulled my arm out of his grip.

"The answer is no," I repeated. I tried to walk away again but he turned me around.

"Max, look," he began again. Seeing how this wasn't going to go anywhere if I kept walking away, I stood there, waiting. "I've checked out the site, the security, everything. It's a really good program and it could be the only way to find out what's causing that pollution problem at Truman."

I closed my eyes, trying to come up with something coherent to say. This was just perfect, not only had the rest of the flock decided that we should go running off to summer camp like the good little Samaritans that we are, now Fang, my back-up guy, was against me too.

"It's not safe," I responded simply. "What makes you think this is even the right information?" Fang shook his head.

"Got it off Truman's website," he said. "And it _is _safe." Wait a minute…Since when did Fang go traipsing off into la-la land?

"No, it's not," I stated coldly. "It's never safe," I added. "I thought by now you, of all people, would've known that," I muttered under my breath.

"Regardless," Fang said, ignoring my comment, "We don't have much of a choice. We have to find out what's causing this pollution problem somehow and this is the only way we're going to be able to do it."

I hated situations like this. Hated it when Fang was right and he knew it. My mission was to save the world and I didn't have any other ideas to get that going, so here I was, with my back up against the wall, again.

"Ok, fine," I said, startling him. "Get the others and pack, we're going to JBA."

I walked pass a still shocked Fang and climbed back into my room, knowing for a fact this could be the worst mistake of our lives.


End file.
